Helena weekly herald. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1867-1900, 1887-10-27
MOST NORTHERN TOWN.
ODD WAYS OF LIFE IN NORWAY'S
REMOTEST VILLAGE.
Under the Midnight Sun-A Place Where
the Only Grass That Grows Is Found
on the Housetops-A Drunken Lap
lander.

There is in mailing letter at the northern
most town in the world sentimental feeling
of satisfaction which has nothing to do with
desire that it shall arrive sooner at its desti-
nation. This epistle will accompany me on
the eight day journey south, and l might
write it at any time during the voyage, but l
shall take it ashore this morning and shall
hope that the Hammerfest postotfice authori-
ties will find time to stamp it with their own
postmark. To do this it will be necessary for
them to be awake. remember that when /
was last i'll Hammerfest at o'clock yester-
Gay morning, not soul was stirring in the
place. The long arctic day had tired them
out, and they slept late. l myself was tired,
for l had remained up until to see the
scenery of the coast; but when the ship
dropped anchor in the harbor an admirable
curiosity had urged me to secure a solitary
boatman, who rowed me ashore for the sum
of two and half cents.
As l walked along the main street found
myself endeavoring to fasten on my mind the
features of Hammerfest by a comparison
with Tromsoe, the other city of this Ultima
Thule, where had passed the day before
Tromsoe was cheerful place, lying on the
slopes of a green, hilly island by the blue
waters of a long sound Even within the
arctic circle it was very hot day; there was
a luxurious growth of dwarf birches and
wild cherry trees. and at the end of every
lane there was the background of green hill
side to be seen, from which the grass seemed
to run down all over the place, covering the
doorsteps and the walks
Had it not also been sunny at Hammerfest
I should have been ready to shiver. The
town seemed to be a band of little wooden
houses built in long half circle round the
harbor under wall of cliffs from which
many stones had fallen. If the grass was
everywhere at Tromsoe, the rocks were every
where at Hammerfest, for l was made con-
scious of them at every turn. When the sun
presently went under a cloud and it grew
chilly, | was reminded whenever | looked
that was standing under the cold and frown-
ing brow of a precipice Hammerfest, was
told, had West End, where the finest houses
and the hotel were, and l proceeded thither
along the middle of the silent street. On
either side ran rows Of houses on a raised
bank; in front of them was q narrow side
walk to which one might ascend by occasional
flights of steps; but the stones of the walk
were jagged and dangerous, and the little
square windows were too jealously high in
any case for passer-by to look in. Among
the many white painted signs hoped to have
found at least one "Bageri" open, where l
might get some coffee and bread, but in vain;
there was not soul in Hammerfest awake
pinned my faith on that hotel in the West
End of which had heard, and went further
have never been in place so forbidding
and destitute of soil for verdure as this. The
only grass grew on the housetops, forced by
the warmer air from beneath.
Taking a turn, however, to the left 1 ar
rived at the theatre-a low, wooden building,
forty feet long, where performances were to
be given once week i'll the season." so
notice read. Behind the theatre there was an
expanse of sward strewn with blocks of
stone, close under the cliff. Part of it was
used as a cemetery overlooking the cold
Arctic sea, part was pasture ground for
geese anG goats. As | stood there gazing the
silence was broken by hoarse croak, and
perceived hopping about upon housetop,
and in and out Of a chimney, where he pre-
sumably kept hoard, large Norwegian
crow, with black back and gray breast and
legs, like respectable gentleman in black
coat and smalls. On the same roof little
kid was eagerly pasturing. In the road at
my feet one of the fox like, sharp cared rein
deer dogs of the Lapps was gnawing bone
After q half mile walk l arrived in the
West End, where l observed that no grass
grew on the roofs Of the houses. One palace,
indeed, had two rows Of seven high windows
ON its side and two windows at its end. The
mayor Of Hammerfest must, l fancy have
resided here Opposite to me was place Of
greater interest, the "Hotel of the North
Pole" its door was open, and hunger COM
PEELED me boldly to intrude myself upon its
sleeping inmates. In room on the right,
hung with furs and Lapp costumes for sale,
on q large bed lay cat surrounded by five
blind kittens newly born. On another door
read )isestue," which took to mean eat
ing ROOM In an apartment beyond this
found the landlord and landady and four
children in all stages OF undress. They gave
me some very good coffee, and they advised
me in broken English to return to the boat
stage by a new way along the wharves, where
might see the ships The ships were mostly
Russian, from Archangel and the White Sea,
and / experienced a strange sensation OF re-
moteness when / found that l was unable
even to read the letters Of their names.
On the counter of diminutive bookshop
where l stopped to buy some stamps was as
tonished to see book entitled "Fra Civilisa-
tionens Overdrev, af Mark Twain" took
this to mean "From excess of civilization"
and as left the shop I was racking my brain
to imagine what book this could be, when
made an acquaintance whose condition ex-
planned to me that the book was certainly an
unheard of tract by the humorist, distributed
about Hammerfest in the interest of the tenn
perance cause. Civilization had edmy friend
into excess of "finkel" and he was drunk; but
unlike Russian, he was good natured, for be
was Lapp, one of that Outlandish race OF
nomad dwarfs whose figures give such strange
and marked character to the street corners
of Hammerfest and Tromsoe in the summer
time, when they come down from the noun
tains to fish. He was very friendly, and
gave him a cigarette, which he was unable to
manage until showed him how it was to be
Int and smoked. He puffed away with de-
lightful grin upon his wien ape like face un-
til finding that it disappeared very fast and
that it was not as strong as his pipe, he threw
the cigarette on the ground and, lighting his
pipe. staggered off along the wharf. He had,
like other Lapps, Mongolian cast of feat
ures. with small almond shaped eyes and high
angular cheek bones; and these, with his bow
legs, made his appearance suggestive OF TWO
triangles one above the other. He wore
thick, heavy pointed shoes of leather and col
ored bands of worsted about his ankles, and
black greasy leggings of whale skin fitted his
limbs as tightly as if they were his own hide.
He had great coat of reindeer skin with the
- LIE ,,-or,, awov and cirtled in or Tho